We all fear bad reviews about our business.  Bad reviews can be unfair, misleading, and just plain inaccurate.

The temptation might to write a rebuttal review, pretending to be a happy customer.  You’re hoping to that your own positive review will shout louder than the bad reviews.

But it is illegal to write fake reviews about your business, particularly if you are pretending to be someone you’re not.

As an example, take a look at the rather extraordinary streak of bad tempered commenting going on about the BT Web Clicks service over on the HM2K.com website.

And right smack in the middle are a few people defending BT, who look suspiciously like they might be employed by BT, or working on behalf of BT.

What they don’t do is put their hands up and say who they are.  Who they work for.  What part they actually play in the business.

Instead, they might be hiding behind generic user names, and implying they might actually be BT customers.

And the other members of the discussion think they’ve rumbled a fake contributor, and fingers are being pointed.

If “Steve” or “Joseph” or “Junior1138″ are indeed connected to BT then they are making a mistake.  Big mistake.

Why should you not write fake comments or reviews?

• it is illegal
• people will sense that the comments are from you, and will point out your fraudulent review
• and that will make your company look bad, or more likely, dishonest
• your fake positive comments are likely to stoke the fire, and cause the furore to rumble on
• and will probably generate more inbound links,  and percolate the topic higher in the search rankings

Handling negative reviews

I think negative reviews can have a positive impact on your business.  They can help to build trust and credibility when handled correctly.

Negative reviews demonstrate that the opinions are expressed by real people, and show that you have an open channel of communication.

Steps for handling negative comments:

1. Take time to cool off.  Sleep on it before you compose a reply
2. Wait a little while, and see if your friendly customers jump to your defense.  Their independent rebuttal will be much valuable then your own.
3. Make sure you have read the comment correctly.  Sometimes  comments can look harsh or abrupt when they’re actually just written in haste
4. For genuine criticisms, make sure you have a plan of action to address and fix the problem
5. If you are going to reply, identify yourself properly and make it absolutely clear exactly who you are and how you are related to the business.
6. If you’re wrong, say you’re sorry, admit the fault, and explain the next steps. Everybody loves a nice guy, even if they’ve made a mistake.
7. If the review is inaccurate, clarify the situation keeping in mind the purpose is to win the hearts of the readers
8. Sarcasm doesn’t always convey well in short postings.
9. Monitor the situation so you’re aware where the bad reviews are flaring up

Reading more about negative reviews:

The laws governing social media marketing, including reviews.

The Power of Reviews

BT Web Clicks Review

Many thanks to Chris Rand who signposted me to the BT Web Clicks debate.